by Sir David Jason has spoken out to clarify the ‘fake news’ being circulated about a supposed ‘talk’ with his Only Fools and Horses co-star Nicholas Lyndhurst.
As the iconic Del Boy, he captivated UK audiences in the popular BBC comedy, which chronicled the ups and downs of a working-class Peckham family aiming for prosperity .
Outlining his thoughts in his autobiography, ‘My Life’, Sir David put an end to speculation of bad blood with Lyndhurst, while also shedding light on the possible origins of such tricks.
In his words: “By Nick, I feel a little to blame for some of this fake news ‘feud’, as it is a story that is often used as supporting evidence in these stories that I told in an earlier volume of these memories, about Nick and me. to have a huge fight during an immediate shooting for Only fools.”
“And we had a huge relationship that day – a really great one. The kind of all-consuming, shouting, swearing, object-throwing barley that relationships don’t often come back from.”
“The only thing was, it was a fight game – a wind up, a practical joke we played on the rest of the cast and crew. It was raining, the cameras weren’t turned on this morning all – it was one of those frustrating days. competition and see who could fly their plane the longest we were bored, bored, and the devil makes idle actors famous.”
Sir David continued his story by describing how they were housed in the ‘luxe trailer’ provided by the BBC, which was ‘a small caravan with dingy soft furnishings’.
To amuse themselves, the actors decided to ‘stage a flaming speech’ in an attempt to ‘convince everyone on the set that we had a lot of falling out’.
Team members tried to intervene after the pair’s fake argument, hoping to diffuse the tension. However, Sir David said that “Nick and I sullenly rejected his diplomacy”.
He said: “Eventually someone went and called the producer to come and see if he could work his personal magic, and at that point Nick and I realized we’d probably pushed it as far as we could.”
Giving further insight into his old screen time with Only Fools co-star Nick, Sir David shared another anecdote in his memoir about the day they threatened to jokingly quit the show.
Sir David shared a memorable moment from the series of Only Fools and Horses that almost made him consider retiring as a joke.
He recalled: “There’s a moment in series three of Only Fools and Horses where Del and Rodney discuss the viability of Rodney’s plans to go into business on his own and invest his £200 of start-up capital in the self-catering holiday trade. .”
“Lennard [Pearce] like Grandpa, there weren’t many lines in this scene – it’s just a quiet spot in his armchair in the living room. But now, at the mention of Rodney’s proposed £200 holiday property investment, he suddenly gets up and says, ‘What have you got, Rodney – Wendy’s house? ‘”.
“It is difficult, even now, to summon words that adequately account for the amount of laughter this line received from the studio audience. The laughter went on so long, it threatened to carry over into the next episode – and every which Nick and I could do. stand there and ride it, and try not to get involved.”
“When we had finished filming, I came forward to say a few words of thanks to the audience, which I always liked to do. This time, just to impress Lennard, I said, ‘That’s it. I’m quitting Nick Lyndhurst and I worked our socks off all night for this show Lennard Pearce hasn’t said a bloody word – and then he just says ‘Wendy house’ and gets the biggest laugh. I’ve never heard in my whole life’.
Sir David revealed that the cast and crew created a ‘laughter rating system’ during filming, which made them an inside joke to rate the humor in a scene.
He explained: “Laughs would be ranked according to perceived Wendy-ness. A good line might be scored as ‘mini-Wendy’. A good line would be scored ‘sub-Wendy’. What you’d expect, of course, which was an ‘Wendy all-out’ or ‘Wendy full-blown’ The ‘Wendy full-blown’ was the holy vessel.”
During a revealing chat on BBC Breakfast with host Jon Kay, Sir David discussed the lingering “ghost” of his character Derek Trotter, admitting that he seems to be losing sight of his other achievements.
Sir David reflected on his time in Only Fools and Horses, saying: “My only regret” is that he often feels in Del Boy’s shadow, reminiscent of the creepy spectacles in A Christmas Carol.
Despite a varied acting career, Sir David lamented that most people remember him mainly as Derek Trotter: “The thing that hangs me back, it only bothers me a little, because that seems to be the t -anything people remember me by.”
“I’m delighted in one way that so many people have reached out and enjoyed what I’ve done with the character, but I’ve done so many other things that everyone seems to have forgotten about. only Derek Trotter ever played.”
The star expressed his deep regret saying, “My disappointment or regret, if you like, is that I always wanted to be a player at the National Theatre. I always had to want to be on the stage of the national theater. to play those great productions with those great actors that never happened.”
